Apparatus for and art of treatment of metal work



Sept. 10, 1935. H. ROSENBERG APPARATUS FOR AND ART OF TREATMENT OF METAL WORK Filed March 26, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIIlE.

gmmdo o HELYMAN RUEENB'ERE/ w v 1m a Sept. 10, 1935'. H. ROSENBERG APPARATUS FOR AND ART OF TREATMENT OF METAL WORK Filed March 26, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HEYMAN ROSENBERG i.

Patented Sept. 10, 1935 STTES APPARATUS FDR AND ART OF TREATMENT OF WIETAL WORK "10 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the art of and apparatus for en masse treatment of work, and more particularly work comprising a series of relatively small parts, such as screws,

H nails, bolts, nuts,-buckles,'tools, and the like; and

the essential object in'view-isthe improvement of the art and apparatus set forth in my Patent, No. 1,786,508, dated December3i), 1930.

This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending application, Serial No. 394,830, filed September 2t, 1929.

'The apparatus'and art set forth in my said patent have proved to be of almost immeasurable value both in the obtaining of a superior work product and in the conservation of values, including heat, power, labor, and health; but, with attempts at increasing the size of the work-carrying basket or container along with a similar increase in the size of all the other parts, a substantial 'difiiculty has arisen from the fact that where a large bulk, batch, or quantity of small articles is attempted to be treated en masse, pene tration'of such a group does not occur with that degree of speed and effectiveness 'essential to satisfactory results. Attempted treatment-of a substantially increased bulk of small work with no special provision for obviating the difficulty in heat or other penetration, according to the treatment being'carried out, has proved to result in a variation in the product, the first approached or more successfully penetrated articles of work possessing characteristics differentfrom the articles or" work in the center of the mass and subject to slower or less effective penetration. For in tance, when treating in a bath of molten cyanide, or other salts for case-hardening purposes, a substantial mass of small articles exceeding the mass heretofore treated in the apparatus seen in my said patent, the cyanide or other molten bath apparently does not penetrate the whole mass adequately and *sufliciently promptly to give uniform hardening, and the articles at or nearer the middle of the mass show decided tendencies to ward degrees of softness and the lack of uniformity in the product renders the Whole result unsatisfactory unless the operation -be limited to such comparatively small quantities with each operation as provided for in a single operation in the apparatus and art asset forth in my said patent, or the load be divided as in my said co-pending application.

To obviate this difficulty, andto insure substantial identity in the character of each individual article of a mass of work when treated'in relatively small quantities, as a result of extensive study and experimentation, I have discovered the present invention which has as its essential object the obtaining of all of the beneficial results of my invention as set forth in my said patent and in said copending parent application while treating 5 much larger quantities orbatches of work than is possible by the arrangement disclosed in my said patent, or by the plan of said co -pending parent application while avoiding an excessivesize molten bath.

My said cO-pending application, Serial No. 394,830, discloses a form of the present invention with some of the same general objects in View, but I find that the apparatus shown in said copending application is both expensive of con-- struction and wasteful of space to the extent that in accommodating a series of work-holding baskets of the required reducedcontainingcapacity, the molten bath pot must be-of excessive size relative to the capacity of each individual basket, and, furthermore, the cost of each of the relatively small baskets is excessive and disproportionate with respect to the cost of a singlelarge basket of a capacity equal to or greater than the united capacity of the whole group of smaller baskets; and it is accordingly a further object of the present invention to obviate the necessity for the expense and disproportionate sizes of the molten bath pot with respect to the containing capacity of the baskets, and to save the expense of the production of a plurality of basketsby the employment of a'single one, while obtaining the same superior results as heretofore.

For effectiveness and uniformity of piling work articles, and speed of charging and discharging work-holding containers for en masse treatment of relatively small articles of work, it is essential that the walls or appropriate portions of the walls of the container be inclined to the vertical surficiently to take advantage of gravity distribution 40 of the articles within the container as they enter and also as they are discharged. And it is at the same time of prime importance that the container shall be of as great containing capacity as possible within the limits of space available incident to the predetermined size of the melting pot or other vat or casing into and out of which the work container is to move, preferably on an arcuate path. It follows that for'the work-container a simple inverted hollow cone frustum of sufiiciently high angle inclination of its walls for charging and discharging purposes will not be satisfactory because wastefulof valuable space within the melting pot and failing to give maximum containing capacity for work otherwise of shaft it from vat II.

available within the melting pot. A plain cylinder would give maximum capacity but would be objectionable both because not lending itself economically to available space of the melting not when the Cylinder is required to move into and out of the pot on an arcuate path, and because no gravity aid would be given by the longitudinally straight walls of a cylinder either in loading or discharging. An important object of the present invention is the shaping of the work container to give maximum containing capacity within the limits of the melting pot to be entered and left on an arcuate path; and a more detailed object is the provision of displacement means within the container for maintaining relatively thin thicknesses of masses of work articles within the work container of the form just stated with but minimum loss of space incident to the presence of the displacement means within the container. An additional and further detailed object is the shaping of the displacement means to afford the results just stated while providing maximum cooperation with the walls of the work container relative to their inclination for increasing charging and discharging efiiciency.

With these and other objects in View as will in part hereinafter become apparent and in part be stated, the invention comprises the art of heat and like treatment of metal work and the apparatus for such treatment as hereinafter set forth and subsequently specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary, vertical section through a work-treating apparatus incorporating an embodiment of the structural features of the present invention adapted for treatment of substantially larger batches of work, parts being broken away and other parts omitted for the saving of space, it being understood that the omitted parts are identical with those shown and described in my said patent except for possible variation in size.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the work container detached, and seen on an enlarged scale relative to the scale of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the parts seen in Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, I indicates a furnace of any approved type, such as that illustrated in detail in my said patent. A vat or molten salts bath container II is sustained by the furnace I in position for being heated thereby. A crank arm 24 fixed toa rock shaft I6 journaled in an appropriate support at times overhangs the furnace I and vat I I in position for removably sustaining a work receptacle or basket 29 within the vat. The crank arm 24 is in the form of. a plate bounded by marginal flanges 2? after the manner illustrated in greater detail in my said patent, and the shaft I6 is adapted to be oscillated for swinging the basket 29 into and out of vat I l and to and from an inverted discharging position at the opposite side The plate or crank arm 24 is apertured at I3 toaccommodate the passage of the thermo-couple I3, which is provided at its lower end with the customary thermosensitive resistance for controlling the well known pyrometer (no-t illustrated) registering the temperature of the contents of vat I I. Thermocouple I 3 in operation is withdrawn vertically through aperture I 3' before arm 24 is swung to the discharging postion for the work in basket 29, and

throughout the entire basket and the funnel.

hereinafter described, except at the extreme upper ends thereof above the work and liquid levels. The openings SI are preferably sufficiently diminutive relative to the work to be treated to avoid loss of Work therethrough or catching of the work in the perforations.

The plate which makes up the arm 24 is apertured near its free end to accommodate the workreceiving basket, and, in the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the basket 29 is inserted through the said aperture in the arm 24. The upper end of the basket 29 is open and surrounded by a stiffening ring 32 welded, riveted, or otherwise anchored to the upper end of the sheet of material forming basket 29, and the ring is preferably of angle material so as to have an outstanding flange to overlie the surrounding portion of the crank arm 24. Clamping buttons 39, 39 are carried by the crank arm 24 and engage the upper surface of the outstanding flange of the ring 32 for detachably clamping the basket is to the arm 24.

While the parts are readily susceptible of varying their relative location, yet for purposes of convenience of description the directions will be assumed to be with respect to the showing in Figure 1 front for the foreground and rear for the background, while the other two directions will be referred to as right and left, the direction from the melting pot l I toward shaft IS, that is to the right, being the direction of discharge. The basket 29, as clearly seen in the drawings, is not uniform in construction, but may be generally described as an unbalanced or rampant inverted truncated cone, or, in other words, having the portion of the wall at the right perpendicular to a flat bottom and the wall at the left inclined thereto to provide a flare, the areas of the wall from the left extending around to the right tapering in convergence to a condition blending in the non-converging perpendicular portion of the wall, as best seen in Figure 2. While the bottom of the basket is preferably flat it may be obviously otherwise shaped while retaining the contour of the upstanding wall as just described, and regardless of the shape of the bottom, the bottom is formed with a cen tral, comparatively large opening surrounded by an upstanding funnel 33 preferably of the same material and reticulated the same the walls and bottom of basket 29; and it is preferable to have the funnel 33 formed integral with the bottom of the basket 29. Effective permanent anchorage of the funnel to the bottom may be otherwise had, and the funnel is so located that work cannot be lost through the opening in the basket bottom, but liquid into which the basket may be introduced will find its way freely not only through the reticulations in the side walls and bottom of basket 29 but through the opening in said bottom and up into funnel and out into the body of the basket through the reticulations of said funnel. The upper free end of the funnel 33 is preferably closed by an imperforate, conical cap 34 which is permanently fixed to or otherwise connected with the funnel to prevent disconnection during use. The funnel 33'extends upwardly through the basket 29 to a point above the liquid and work level, as seen in Figure l, and preferably to substantially the upper end of the basket, and cap 34 may even extend above the basket to aid in shedding a charge of work being delivered to the basket. The funnel 33 is an upstanding, truncated cone, unbalanced and rainpant in the same manner but in reverse relation to the body of the basket 29, and bodily slightly inclined toward the left whereby the portion of the wall of funnel 33 most nearly vertical is at the right or adjacent the maximum inclined portion of the wall of basket 29, while the maximum inclined portion of the wall of funnel 33 is adjacent the vertical portion of the wall of basket 29, and the tapering convergence of the other portions of the wall of funnel 33 is toward the left, blending into the nearly vertical portion of that wall, as seen best in Figure 2. That portion of the wall of funnel 33 at the left and just referred to as most nearly vertical would be exactly vertical but for the bodily tilt of the funnel whereby the I. most nearly vertical portion of the wall of the funnel 33 actually leans toward the left beyond the vertical a few degrees, say about three, as clearly seen from the dotted position of the showing of the base circle of the funnel in Figure 2,

and as may be measured relative to the flat bottom of basket 29 in Figure 3. Funnel 33 tapers upward to its upper end or flares downward to its lower end conversely to the upward flare of basket 29, and is also slightly tilted for causing the space between the surrounding walls of the basket and the walls of the funnel to uniformly increase in cross sectional area from the bottom of the basket to the top, but at the same time to have the actual cross sectional area at any particular horizontal plane of intersection substantially less and with less accentuated divergence than would occur were the basket and funnel plain, truncated cones, the latter located coaxially with the former. Such plain cones with walls sufficiently inclined for successful use would afford constantly increasing clearance from the bottom to the top of the basket, but the upward increase of such clearance would cause proportional downward restriction and result in substantially less containing capacity within the available limits of a given size of melting pot; and furthermore the increased space between the funnel and basket walls, if these parts were mere plain, concentric, conversely-arranged cones, or truncations thereof, would tend to allow too radical a variation in the thickness of the mass of work between the bottom layer and layers or portions near or nearer the top, so that where, with such arrangement, the bottom layer or portion would be of proper thickness, top or upper layers or portions would be entirely too thick. Therefore, to provide the maximum available size of basket without the objectionably excessive space at upper portions and insuificient space at lower portions between the walls of the cone and the walls of the basket, and while providing a constantly increasing clearance between the two, the rampant cones are employed, and the funnel is tilted slightly. A cylindrical basket with a cylindrical, concentric funnel would prevent any variation in the area between the basket and funnel, and therefore avoid objectionably reduced areas toward the bottom and objectionably enlarged areas toward the top; but the desirable clearance or tapering of the area toward the bottom of the basket for effectiveness of charging and piling and of discharging would be sacrificed, and

increase in the size of the melting pot necessitated clogging of the articles of work; and also affords clearance for the clean-cut, quick, and effective ischarge of the work without clogging.

Of course, in the handling of work which is of a shape not inclined or destined to clog, such as ball bearings, the properly-spaced, concentric cyl-' inders may be utilized in lieu of the peculiar shape of the body of the basket and the body of the funnel as just described, but with screws and like small articles which readily clog, the peculiar contour just described is of prime importance in the handling of such articles.

The operation is largely the same as that set forth in my said Patent, No. 1,786,508, and differs therefrom and from the process of my said copending application chiefly in the arrangement of the mass of work articles in the form of a continuous, uninterrupted ring, and the details incident to that form. A mass of work is charged into the basket 29 preferably while it is in an elevated position immediately above the pot ll, and the articles descending into the basket from the chute (not shown) along which they are usually directed will be apportioned by the funnel 33 by being shed over the conical cap 34 and distributed by the inclined walls of the funnel and of thebasket, and thereby spread about within the basket 28 around the base of the funnel 33 and gradually piled up between the funnel and the basket until the accepted level of work is attained. The funnel 33 not only serves to apportion the work so that it will not pile up on one side and remain low on another, but aids in preventing clogging and the resulting formation of voids in the mass of work, which would be space wasting if not otherwise harmful. When the charge of work has been completed, the shaft it may be vibrated or oscillated back and forth through a very short angle to shake the work down to a compact condition, but ordinarily the small articles of work will assume a suficiently compact condition on being delivered to the basket by virtue of the apportioning and distributing action of the funnel. The work being in place, shaft it is turned sufficiently to lower the basket 29 down into the molten bath in vat ll. The thermocouple I3 is then lowered into the bath and the work is left in the bath until the pyrometer indicates the attainment of the required temperature for insuring proper carbonization or other treatment of the work as required. In entering the bath, the basket 29 of course allows the free inflowing of liquid through its reticulations and also through the enlarged aperture in its bottom and up along the funnel, and the funnel permits free infiowing of the liquid through its apertures to the interior of the basket. The basket is lowered quickly into the bath to a point sufliciently low for the liquid level in vat H to be above the work level in the basket, and, therefore, the liquid approaches the articles of Work from all sides and both ends of the ring of work, and as the ring of work is sufficiently thin at all points to permit the required speed and effectiveness of penetration, each article of work is treated withpractically the same completeness and precision as if treated singly and alone notwithstanding the en masse treatment.

When the requisite temperature or other indicated condition for completion of treatment has been attained, the basket 29 is lifted from the vat I I by partial rotation of shaft I6, and the basket is tempararily stopped in its upward movement immediately above the vat II for a brief period to allow the draining back of liquid from the work and the parts of the basket, and then rotation of shaft I6 continues toward the right until the basket is brought to the discharging position where the work is deposited in a chilling bath as set forth in my said patent or otherwise appropriately treated. In discharging, the work finds no obstructions owing to the clearance provided by the opposingly-disposed conical forms of the basket and funnel notwithstanding the unbalanced condition of those cones, since, though they reduce the otherwise widened space at the top, they still leave a constant enlargement from bottom to top in the work space of the basket. Not only is this true, but the perpendicular portion of the wall of the basket and the nearly perpendicular portion of the wall of the funnel tend to direct the work into the quenching bath in paths having no substantial retrograde or backward inclination; that is to say, there is no tendency of the work to substantially spread backward toward the shaft I6 as the work is being discharged, and the splashing tendency is thus proportionally subdued and avoided in a direction toward the vat II. It will be borne in mind that when the basket is inverted to the discharging position, the portion of the basket Wall which is perpendicular to its bottom and to its top is nearer the vat II than the tapering or inclined portions of the wall of basket 29, while the inclined portions of the Wall of the funnel are nearer the vat I I or nearer shaft I6, and the clearance space, therefore, is inclined away from the direction of the vat II in all instances and spreading of the work as it is discharging therefore will naturally occur toward the right or in a direction away from the vat I I.

The art as hereinafter claimed will be readily understood from the preferred operation as set forth above, but, of course, it will be understood also that the particular apparatus disclosed is by no means indispensable tothe practicing of the art.

The present improved apparatus, as will be apparent from the foregoing, is well adapted to and intended for use in the en masse treatment of articles of metal work wherever penetration of the mass is required, whether in case-hardening, tempering, annealing, normalizing, or other treatment or modification, or other improvements or variation of the condition or appearance of the work.

What is claimed is:-

1. In work holders for en masse treatment of articles of metal work, the combination, with a container, of means therein for sustaining a mass of work articles apportioned for substantially uniform action on the articles by work treating means entering the container, the container being flared toward its charging and discharging end, and the work sustaining means being conversely flared.

2. In work holders for en masse treatment of articles of metal work, the combination of a basket having reticulated walls and having an opening through its bottom, and a tubular member flared toward the bottom of the basket and connected to the bottom over the opening and upstanding within the basket and having similarly reticulated retaining such work en masse in the form of av comparatively thin continuous ring of grouped articles surrounding an open space.

5. In the art of en masse treatment of relatively small articles of metal work, arranging the mass of articles of work in a continuous, uninterrupted ring having an inner open area and a relatively thin Wall, and treating the Work with work-treating means approaching from both the inner and outer peripheries of the ring.

6. The art of en masse treatment of articles of metal work for case-hardening, comprising arranging a mass of articles of work in a continuous, uninterrupted, relatively thin-walled ring, submerging the ring of work in and removing it from treating fluid, retaining the ring as a ring during such submerging and while removing the ring of work from the fluid, and thereafter breaking the ring for further treatment of the work.

'7. A work carrier of the character specified comprising means movable as a unit for sustaining relatively small articles of, metal work during treatment thereof en masse and in contact with each other in relatively thin quantities encircling an open area, the work-sustaining means having means to prevent the relatively thin quantities of work from shifting toward increased thicknesses of mass, and the work-sustaining means being adapted to receive and discharge the work articles en masse.

8. In apparatus for treatment of relatively small articles of metal work en masse, the combination, with a vat and a work carrier movable relative thereto, of a. mass work-carrying means adapted to receive and discharge articles of work in mass formation conditioned to admit of access of treating means to the interior of the mass as readily as to the exterior, including means for sustaining the mass of work articles arranged to encircle an open area.

9. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container has an opening in its bottom and the work sustaining means is reticulated and has its lower end open and located to surround the opening in the bottom of the container.

10. In work holders for en masse treatment of articles of. metal work, the combination of a basket having reticulated walls and having an opening through its bottom, and a tubular member connected to the bottom over the opening and upstanding within the basket and having similarly reticulated walls.

HEYMAN ROSENBERG. 

